Nuclear reactors of the pressurized water type are susceptible to vibrational damage to the fuel rods of the associated nuclear core due to a "baffle jetting" effect from the flow of water through the fuel rod assembly. The resultant vibrational damage to either or both of the fuel rods and the associated nuclear fuel assembly is known as "fretting". In order to substantially reduce such damage from "fretting", a plurality of clips are used to secure together a number of fuel rods in each fuel assembly to the reactor core to substantially eliminate vibration of the rods due to the baffle jet effect of the water flow in the core. Clips designed to accomplish this result are taught in copending application U.S. Ser. No. 487,907, for "Apparatus For Preventing Vibrational Damage to Nuclear Fuel Rods", filed Apr. 25, 1983, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The teachings of this copending application are incorporated herein by reference. Prior to exposure a nuclear fuel assembly to a neutron source, the assembly is substantially safe to handle, permitting assembly workers to manually install the anti-baffle jetting or anti-vibration clips onto the fuel rods at appropriate locations on the fuel assembly. However, once the nuclear fuel assembly is installed into a reactor core and exposed to a neutron source, the fuel assembly becomes hightly radioactive, preventing any possibility of an operator coming into close contact with the irradiated fuel assembly to remove the clips, when necessary. In a typical application, the nuclear fuel assemblies arranged in peripheral locations in the core require the use of the clips to prevent vibrational damage, whereas the fuel assemblies in the interior portions of the nuclear reactor core do not require such clips, for they are not exposed to baffle jetting and the resultant fretting or vibrational wear. Fresh fuel assemblies are usually placed around the periphery of the core assembly. As the fuel assemblies age, they are moved to the interior portions of the reactor core, and spent fuel assemblies of the reactor core are removed from their interior locations. since the interior located fuel assemblies of the core cannot as readily dissipate heat relative to the fuel assemblies located around peripheral portions of the reactor core, it is desireable that the clips be removed from fuel assemblies before installation in interior locations of the core, in order to avoid hot spots in the fuel assemblies. Accordingly, it became necessary to develop apparatus for permitting a remotely located operator to remove the clips from an irradiated fuel assembly prior to placing the fuel assembly into an interior location in the reactor core. It was also recognized that such apparatus must permit rapid removal of the clips in order to avoid any lengthy shutdown of the nuclear reactor. The present invention comprises such apparatus.